A Very Simple Machine - For Simple Needs
Written: Dec 03 '00 (Updated Dec 03 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive. Easy to use. Memory send feature.
Cons: Ribbons can add up in $$. Brother tech support can be lacking sometimes.
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| AtlantaGreg's Full Review: Brother IntelliFAX 770 Plain Paper Thermal Fax |
I've owned the 770 model fax for about a year now, and it's still working just fine for me. There are however, basics that people need to know before purchasing a "plain paper fax" (explained further below).
NOT FOR RECEIVING or COPIES:
If you own a small business and receive a decent number of faxes, the 770 may not be for you. This machine uses a carbon-type "ribbon" cartridge to copy faxes to plain paper. At most, you average about 200 received faxes per ribbon, and the cartridges are around $20-25 each. That averages out to a pretty high per-fax cost overall. Using it as a copier machine will be equally expensive, and not recommended. For *sending*, the 770 does just fine. It handles paper well, and so far I've not had any paper jams at all. It's reasonably quick and you can set it to scan the faxes first, then send, saving you from having to stand by the machine while all of the pages go through.
QUALITY:
Brother makes a lot of products. Maybe too many to focus on making many of them top notch in quality. The 770 is no exception. While it's a decent functioning machine for home or very casual users, "power faxers" will probably break this machine in a short amount of time. It's not quite "cheaply built", but it's not a solid brickhouse, either. Some of the lower-end Panasonic fax machines are more solidly built than the 770.
THE DIFFERENCE?:
Plain paper faxes usually use three main ways to get the faxes onto paper: Ink, ribbons, or toner. Some of the multi-purpose machines you see on the market use ink, since they double as computer printers. These too, are not cost effective if you receive many faxes; ink is expensive at $27+ per cartridge. Ribbon machines are a bit better, but again, you get a limited number of faxes on each ribbon, and ribbons average $20+ each. Toner (or laser fax) machines use toner powder in a cartridge much like a copier machine. The toners can be as high as $150 each, or as low as $50 each, depending on the machine - but laser faxes are much clearer than the previous two, and some machines will crank out 2,000-3,000 faxes per toner cartridge.
The best? Laser/toner machines, of course. However, you can get ribbon machines for as low as $65.00 today - a good laser machine will set you back $275.00 or more. I consider multi purpose machines a "no no", as if one component breaks, you usually cannot use the machine for ANY of it's uses. If you insist on using your fax machine as a copier on a regular basis as well, then you want to go with a laser machine.
So, if you have casual needs for faxes, don't receive many, and just need a basic machine to send them, then the 770 is for you. If you have need of crystal-clear faxes and/or receive many faxes, then go with a higher priced laser fax machine.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
AtlantaGreg
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Member: Greg
Location: Powder Springs, GA USA
Reviews written: 81
Trusted by: 4 members
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